BOSTON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- At least one high school in the Boston area has withdrawn from a state girls' track meet scheduled for one of the holiest days in the Jewish calendar.
Frank Mooney, executive director of the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association, acknowledged he did not realize "how serious that day was" when he scheduled the event on Rosh Hashanah, The Boston Globe reports. He said the venue in Boston's Franklin Park was not available any other day.
He also said that, while the event was scheduled in January, the first objection he heard was an e-mail last week from Rabbi Susan Fendrick of Newton.
Fendrick learned of the scheduling problem from her stepdaughter, Shoshana Kruskal, a member of the track team at Newton North. The school has withdrawn from the McIntyre Invitational, an event that usually attracts about 3,500 competitors from 130 schools.
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins a 10-day holy period that ends with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
